The present subject matter is tip dressing of spot welder tips. More specifically, the present technology is directed to the material and geometry of a tip dresser blade.
Spot welding typically uses pairs of shaped electrodes to concentrate the applied welding current in a spot clamped therebetween. Welding heat results from the resistance to the applied welding current. Welding electrodes are typically made from a material having low electrical resistance such as copper or copper alloy. The size and shape of the electrode depends on the application. Weld quality in a particular application can depend greatly on the size and shape and material of the electrode.
With each weld, the electrodes change slightly in shape, size, and surface material from heat, pressure, and accumulation of corrosion or debris built up thereon. These changes in the electrodes can degrade the quality of subsequent welds. In order to maintain the desired weld quality and extend electrode service life, after a certain number of welds, it is common to perform a tip dressing operation, also known as “tip dress”, on the electrodes in order to clean off buildup or corrosion, reshape the electrode tip or otherwise restore the electrode to the desired size, shape, material or combination thereof. Typically, a tip dress comprises a milling operation directed to milling the face of the electrode with a cutting blade known as a tip dresser blade. The tip dress typically involves operationally engaging the electrode and the tip dresser blade and cutting away material from the electrode by rotating the tip dresser blade relative to the electrode for a certain time.
There are multiple technical challenges present in tip dressing technology. The time that it takes for a tip dress is time the tip being dressed is not available for welding, also known as “down time”, so it is desirable to reduce or minimize the time needed to produce the desired tip dress. Also, the tip dresser device itself requires maintenance: the tip dress blade typically requires replacing or sharpening at some service interval. The time that it takes to perform maintenance on the tip dresser device, such as replacement or sharpening of the tip dress blade, can also result in down time, so it is desirable to reduce or minimize tip dresser device maintenance time.
It remains desirable to provide tip dress blades that can perform tip dress operations more quickly than conventional tip dress blades. It remains desirable to provide tip dress blades that remain serviceable for longer times than conventional tip dress blades.